Method of transferring images



Dec. 27, 1966 D. R. PAIL ETAL 3,294,612

METHOD OF TRANSFERRING IMAGES Filed March 4, 1963 F 1 FM 2 INVENTORS DAN/El A. PAIL ROBERT E. 6UL4/V/4/Y BY WFFMyL.

United States Patent 3,294,612 METHOD OF TRANSFERRING IMAGES Daniel R. Pail, Midland, and Robert E. Sullivan, Bay City, .Mich., assignors to Dow Corning Corporation, Midland, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Mar. 4, 1963. Ser. No. 262,481 4 Claims. (Cl. 156235) This invention relates to a method of transferring images from one surface to another.

This invention is especially adapted to reproducing images by the transfer of pigment from one surface to another, thereby reproducing the image on the second surface. Since the mechanism by which this invention works involves pigment transfer it finds its widest application in the reproduction of images formed by pigments which are loosely bound to the substrate, such as, for example, in newsprint, comics, pencil drawings, charcoal sketches and the like.

This invention relates to a method comprising (1) contacting an image bearing surface with a fiowable coherent mass of a siloxane that can be readily removed from said surface, allowing said siloxane to remain in contact with the image for a time suflicient that pigment forming the image is transferred to the surface of the siloxane adjacent to the image surface, thereby reproducing the image on the surface of said siloxane mass, (2) separating the siloxane from the image bearing surface, and (3) thereafter contacting the siloxane surface bearing the reproduction of the image with a second surface comprising a porous material, the surface of which is wet with a liquid in which the siloxane is soluble, whereby a reproduction of the image is formed on the second surface.

The process of this invention is best understood by referring to the drawings, all of which are elevations showing the various steps in carrying out this invention. FIG. 1 shows a substrate 7 having thereon an image 8. FIG. 2 shows a mass of siloxane 9, which has been applied to the surface of substrate 7 so as to cover image 8. FIG. 3 shows the reproduction 8a (of image 8) on the surface of the siloxane mass 9. The siloxane mass is being removed from substrate 7. In FIG. 4, siloxane mass 9 which carries the reproduction 8a (not shown), has been placed on the surface of the second substrate 10. The surface of substrate 10 has been wet with a liquid (not shown) in which the siloxane is soluble. FIG. shows the removal of the siloxane mass from substrate leaving the image So on the surface of the second substrate.

The time involved in each of the above steps is not critical and varies, depending upon the nature of substrates 7 and 10 and on the nature of the liquid which has wet substrate 10. In general, the siloxane will pick up the images almost instantly after it has contacted the surface of the first substrate and it will release the image almost instantly to the wet surface of the second substrate. In general, the siloxane should not be left in contact with either substrate for too long since there is a tendency for the siloxane to flow into the pores and cause sticking.

The amount of liquid applied to substrate 10 is not critical, although in general, it is preferable to remove excess liquid from the surface of the substrate 10 prior to the application of the siloxane mass. This prevents smearing of the image and gives better reproduction.

The above illustration shows one method of carrying out this invention, namely, that in which the siloxane is applied to the substrate surface. Alternatively, the substrate may be applied to the siloxane surface. The method can be carried out either manually or mechanically. For example, the process can be carried out siloxane is soluble.

Patented Dec. 2?, 1966 on any suitable machine in which the siloxane is caused to contact the image bearing substrate at one station and is then made to contact the wet porous substrate at a second station. In such a process either the siloxane or the substrate can be moved from station to station. Many other ways of carrying out the process will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

The siloxanes employed herein combine the characteristics of fiowability and coherency. This combination of properties is necessary for operativeness in this invention. A liquid which will flow, but is not coherent, cannot be conveniently removed from the substrate surface, and thus is not useable.

Any fiowable coherent siloxane can be used herein. The terms fiowable and coherent mean that the material flows upon standing so that it conforms to the surface upon which it is placed, yet it can be removed in one piece when desired. This combination of properties enables a siloxane to readily pickup pigment from the image and to be separated from the image bearing surface without distortion of the image. It also means that the siloxane mass can be handled without distortion of the image during the transfer of the image from one surface to another.

The combination of properties is also desirable since it allows one to change the image at will after it has been removed from the first surface. Thus, one can reproduce an enlargement or distortion of the image by elongating, stretching or otherwise changing the area of they image by pulling, stretching, or otherwise altering the siloxane mass. The fact that the siloxane is fiowable under stress, allows this distortion to take place with ease and without one having to worry about the mass returning to its original dimensions as would be the case with a non-fiowable, rubbery or resilient material.

The preferred siloxane is that commonly known as bouncing putty. This material, together with its meth- 0d of manufacture is described in U.S. Patents 2,541,851 and 2,431,878. Briefly bouncing putty is made by reacting a diorganopolysiloxane (preferably a dimethylpolysiloxane) with a reactive boron compound such as alkyl borates, boric acid or boric oxide. Reaction can be carried out at temperatures ranging from to 250 C. depending upon the boron compound used.

The final essential step of this invention comprises con tacting the image bearing siloxane mass with a porous material which has been wet with a liquid in which the This will cause the image to transfer from the siloxane surface to the surface of the substrate, thereby reproducing the original image on said surface. The substrate can be wet by the liquid by any suitable means such as by immersion, spraying or wiping.

Any liquid in which the siloxane is soluble is operative herein. Specific examples of such liquids are carboxylic acids such as oleic and Z-ethylhexanoic; aliphatic hydrocarbons such as petroleum ether and V.M. and P. naphtha; alcohols such as 2-ethylhexanol, lauryl alcohol, 2,6,8- trimethyl-4-nonanol, oleyl alcohol, 2-butene-l,4-diol, 1,2, 6-hexanetriol, 1,5-pentenediol, neo-dodecanol, 2-ethyl-l,3- hexanediol, and isopropanol; esters such as carboxylic esters such as sorbitan trioleate, isopropyl myristate, linseed oil, dioctyl adipate and the mono-isobutyrate of trimethylpentanediol and phosphate esters such as dibutylphosphate; others such as the mono-ethylether of ethylene glycol, dioxane and the mono-methylether of tripropylene glycol; aromatic hydrocarbons such as xylene; chlorinated hydrocarbons such as perchloroethylene; amines such as ti-n-butylamine; amides such as lauric diethanol amide; ketones such as acetone and siloxanes such as low molecular weight hydroxylated dimethylpolysiloxanes.

It should be understood that either a single liquid can be employed or a mixture of two or more materials can be used. For example, excellent reproduction is obtained when the porous substrate is wet with mixture of a solution of 70 percent of isopropanol and 30 percent water, containing one percent of any of following materials: the dioctyl ester of sodium sulfosuccinic acid, sodium lauryl sulfate, ammonium laurylsulfate, and sodium dodecyl benzenesulfonate.

Any porous substrate, which allows the liquid to soak in, is operative in this invention, specific examples of such substrate include unglazed paper, unglazed ceramics, asbestos, organic fabrics and glass fabrics. For better contrast it is preferred that the substrate be white although this is not essential for operativeness of this invention. Titaniumdioxide-filled papers are particularly desirable.

There are many uses for the process of this invention which range from automatic reproduction of printed matter or other images in commercial processes to hand reproduction of comic drawings in childrens toy kits. The siloxane mass can be used repeatedly to reproduce different images. All one needs to do is to work the mass so that any pigment from a previous image adhering to the surface is moved to the interior of the mass thereby forming a fresh surface to receive the next image. This working can be done mechanically or by hand.

That which is claimed is:

1. A method of transferring images which comprises (1) contacting the image bearing surface with a flowable, coherent mass of a siloxane which can be readily removed from said surface, allowing said siloxane to remain in contact with the image for a time sufficient that pigment forming the image is transferred to the surface of the siloxane adjacent to the image surface thereby reproducing the image on the surface of the said siloxane,

(2) separating the siloxane from the image surface,

and

(3) thereafter contacting a second surface with the siloxane surface bearing the reproduction of the image, said second surface comprising a porous material, the surface of which is wet with a liquid in which the siloxane is soluble, whereby a portion of the flowable, coherent mass of siloxane containing the image embedded therein is transferred to said second surface and a reproduction of the image is formed on said second surface.

2. A method of transferring images which comprises (1) contacting the image bearing surface with a flowable, coherent mass of a siloxane which can be readily removed from said surface, allowing said siloxane to remain in contact with the image for a time sufficient that pigment forming the image is transferred to the surface of the siloxane adjacent to the image surface thereby reproducing the image on the surface of the said siloxane,

(2) separating the siloxane from the image surface,

(3) thereafter contacting a second surface with the siloxane surface bearing the reproduction of the image, said second surface comprising a porous material, the surface of which is wet with a liquid in which the siloxane is soluble, whereby a portion of the flowable, coherent mass of siloxane containing the image embedded therein is tranferred to said second surface and a reproduction of the image is formed on said second surface, and

. (4) thereafter removing said siloxane from said second surface.

3. A method of forming an image which comprises contacting the surface of a flowable coherent mass of a siloxane on which surface is an image, which a surface of a porous material which surface is wet with a liquid in which the siloxane is soluble, whereby a portion of the flowable, coherent mass of siloxane containing the image embedded therein is transferred to said second surface and a reproduction of the image is formed on the porous material.

4. A method of forming an image comprising 1) contacting the surface of a flowable, coherent mass of a siloxane on which surface is an image, with a porous material the surface of which is wet with a liquid in which the siloxane is soluble, whereby a portion of the flowable, coherent mass of siloxane containing the image embedded therein is transferred to said second surface and a reproduction of the image is formed on the porous material, and

(2) thereafter separating the siloxane mass and the porous material.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,814,601 11/1957 Currie et a1 26029.1 3,131,106 4/1964 Mackenzie 156230 3,146,144- 8/1964 Lemelson 156-234 EARL M. BERGERT, Primary Examiner.

M. L. KATZ, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A METHOD OF TRANSFERRING IMAGES WHICH COMPRISES (1) CONTACTING THE IMAGE BEARING SURFACE WITH A FLOWABLE, COHERENT MASS OF A SILOXANE WHICH CAN BE READILY REMOVED FROM SAID SURFACE, ALLOWING SAID SILOXANE TO REMAIN IN CONTACT WITH THE IMAGE FOR A TIME SUFFICIENT THAT PIGMENT FORMING THE IMAGE IS TRANSFERRED TO THE SURFACE OF THE SILOXANE ADJACENT TO THE IMAGE SURFACE THEREBY REPRODUCING THE IMAGE ON THE SURFACE OF THE SAID SILOXANE, (2) SEPARATING THE SILOXANE FROM THE IMAGE SURFACE, AND (3) THEREAFTER CONTACTING A SECOND SURFACE WITH THE SILOXANE SURFACE BEARING THE REPRODUCTION OF THE IMAGE, SAID SECOND SURFACE COMPRISING A POROUS MATERIAL, THE SURFACE OF WHICH IS WET WITH A LIQUID IN WHICH THE SILOXANE IS SOLUBLE, WHEREBY A PORTION OF THE FLOWABLE, COHERENT MASS OF SILOXANE CONTAINING THE IMAGE EMBEDDED THEREIN IS TRANSFERRED TO SAID SECOND SURFACE AND A REPRODUCTION OF THE IMAGE IS FORMED ON SAID SECOND SURFACE. 